The present invention relates generally to automatic call distributors and, more particularly, to an automatic call distributor and method for selecting one of a plurality of available agents to receive an incoming telephone call based on agent skills wherein the available agents are grouped into skill groups comprised of available agents having a common agent; skill. The agents within a skill group are further arranged by proficiency in the common agent skill.
Automatic call distributors (ACDs) are becoming increasingly utilized by businesses to automatically route incoming telephone calls to available agents. Some ACDs route incoming telephone calls based on the skills of the agents and the needs of the external callers. When agents having the necessary skills are unavailable, the customer is placed in one or more queues to wait for an available agent or is connected to an agent having somewhat related skills.
One method for automatic call distribution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,903 issued to Kohler et al. In the Kohler et al. method, each agent is assigned up to four skill numbers that represent various skills of the agent. For an agent having more than four skills, artificial skill numbers are used. In a travel agency, for example, agents may have knowledge of the cities, sites, etc. of one or more states. To accommodate agents having knowledge of more than four states, the Kohler method provides for the assignment of artificial skill numbers representing a group of states, such as the New England states.
Upon arrival of an incoming call, the call is assigned up to three prioritized skill numbers representative of the estimated skill requirements of the calling party. A first group of agents are then searched in an attempt to match the first prioritized skill number of the call with an available agent having that skill number. Failing to find a match of the first skill number, a second search is conducted for an available agent having either the first or second skill number.
If a match still has not been found, a search of the first group of agents is made for an agent having either the first, second or third skill number. If after the third search the incoming caller is not yet connected with an appropriate agent, a second group of agents is searched for a predetermined, artificial skill number designating general knowledge in the desired area while the first group of agents continues to be searched for either the first, second or third skill number.
The Kohler et al. method routes calls to those agents having the desired skill number on a time available basis If more than one agent having the desired skill is available, the agent who has been available for the longest period of time is connected to the caller. Unfortunately, the agent who has been available for the longest period of time may not have the highest proficiency in the desired skill amongst the available agents. Consequently, the caller may not be connected to the most informed agent.
As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the agent selection process disclosed in Kohler et al. may result in undesirable time delays as the agents are searched for a correct match. Since the Kohler et al. method searches all of the agents in a group at each level of searching, the system may take an inordinately long time to match caller skill requirements to agent skills, especially if each group has a large number of agents. The Kohler et al. method will search all the agents in the first group for all three skill numbers even if all the agents in the group are unavailable. Further, even after this extended time period, the caller may be connected to an agent having an artificial skill number and, therefore, possibly only a cursory knowledge of the subject matter of the call.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved automatic call distributor and method for grouping available agents by skills and for arranging the agents by proficiency in those skills such that the incoming caller is connected, in a timely fashion, to the available agent who has the highest proficiency in the specific skill deemed necessary to handle the call.